Mixed messages: Liturgy across Christian churches

The new Catholic translations of the Mass pose a stumbling block to ecumenical relations, says a Lutheran liturgy scholar.

Maxwell E. Johnson is professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame. This short reflection is based on his 2006 Aidan Kavanagh lecture, "The Loss of a Common Language? The End of Ecumenical-Liturgical Convergence."See more posts by Maxwell E. Johnson

Watch your steps

Mass could use the hard dose of reality offered by those recovering from addiction.

I go to church every Sunday with a bunch of addicts.

Well, technically, I've been going to church alongside the addicts. For the past 10 years a Narcotics Anonymous group has been meeting in the church basement during our Sunday evening liturgy. They're also not really "addicts" but in recovery-though the unflinching honesty of their gathering leads me to believe that they wouldn't shy away from such a politically incorrect term.

Watch your steps

Mass could use the hard dose of reality offered by those recovering from addiction.

I go to church every Sunday with a bunch of addicts.

Well, technically, I’ve been going to church alongside the addicts. For the past 10 years a Narcotics Anonymous group has been meeting in the church basement during our Sunday evening liturgy. They’re also not really “addicts” but in recovery—though the unflinching honesty of their gathering leads me to believe that they wouldn’t shy away from such a politically incorrect term.

Parish counciling

Lord knows these organizations need some help serving their communities.

OK, children, gather around. I'll tell you what life was like before parish councils, back when my hair was brown and my dreams were green.

The pastor pretty much ran things, and that was fine with most of us. First of all, we didn't have to go to a lot of boring meetings. Second, we were free to complain to one another (and sometimes to him) about what was wrong with the parish without feeling one iota of guilt or responsibility. Finally, we didn't have to go to a lot of boring meetings.

Gregory F. Augustine Pierce, is the author of The Mass Is Never Ended: Rediscovering Our Mission to Transform the World (Ave Maria Press, 2007) and Spirituality at Work: Twelve Ways to Balance Our Lives On-the-Job (ACTA, 2001). He is the publisher of ACTA Publications in Chicago.See more posts by Gregory F. Augustine Pierce